Clinical training

The one-year Internal Medicine Preliminary Residency offers the same level of autonomy for patient care and the same clinical teaching given to categorical residents. An enhanced curriculum in gastroenterology, hematology and cardiology is provided to preliminary residents (interns) to ensure broad coverage of the major subspecialties of internal medicine within the single year of the preliminary program.

For all services at Mayo Clinic, there are no private patients or private attendings. All patients are cared for by intern-resident teams and a single attending physician.

Rotation schedule

This is a typical rotation schedule for a preliminary medicine intern:

Didactic training

Over the three years of categorical residency in internal medicine, more than 800 didactic lectures are presented to our residents. The preliminary residents have access to all didactic lectures available to our categorical trainees.

The didactic portion of Mayo Clinic's Internal Medicine Residency includes:

• Core curriculum conferences
• Morbidity and mortality conferences
• Primary care conferences
• Grand Rounds
• Clinical Decision-Making Journal Club
• Systems-based practice and quality improvement conferences
• Morning report (inpatient and outpatient)
• Evidence-based medicine didactic conferences

Food is provided for residents, and conferences are telecast to multiple locations throughout Mayo Clinic so that residents can attend regardless of rotation or assignment. Core curricular conferences also are recorded for future viewing. In addition, more than 150 institutional clinical and research conferences are held each week.

Residents learn in-depth clinical skills as part of each specialty curriculum. Workshops in procedural skills are provided during orientation as well as during specialty and ICU rotations.

Research training

There are no research requirements and expectations for preliminary residency. However, all the resources of our well-developed resident scholarship program are available to the preliminary interns just as they are to the categorical interns, including sponsored travel to present scholarly work at national society meetings. Research experiences will vary per ACGME preliminary program requirements.

Historically, about one-third of preliminary interns publish or present their research in a peer-reviewed forum before the end of their intern year.

Call frequency

Interns in this program are restricted to the ACGME's work hour limitations.

Teaching opportunities

Residents have the opportunity to teach Mayo medical students as well as visiting medical students.

Evaluation

To ensure you gain proficiency and develop the corresponding technical skills, your performance is monitored throughout the Internal Medicine Preliminary Residency. You are formally evaluated by your supervising faculty member after completing each clinical rotation and meet with an associate program director to review these evaluations.

In addition, you regularly evaluate the faculty to ensure your educational goals are being met.